1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a package having an unfolding and deploying spout for containing, pouring and dispensing products that are capable of flowing or pouring, namely pourable products, and more particularly the invention refers to a package preferably comprised of a package comprising a box having side walls, a bottom or lower wall, an upper or top wall, a front wall and a rear wall, wherein the spout is defined at a vertex or corner of the box with the corner being defined by the upper wall, the front wall and the side walls. Preferably, the side walls are parallel to each other, the front and rear walls are also parallel and the upper and lower walls are parallel to each other too, with the pouring spout being integral with the remaining of the package and the package being preferably made from an integral, only one piece, of laminar material, such as a cardboard. The spout being a pivoting retractile spout moving between a closing position and an opening position.
For the purpose of the present application the term xe2x80x9cpourablexe2x80x9d must be understood as encompassing any product capable of flowing or pouring such as a powder, powdered products, pellets, grains, particles, all preferably dry products, such as powdered soap, rice, salt, beans and the like. Even some wet products may be considered within this term as long as the package, particularly the spout of the invention, is manufactured or provided with materials capable of resisting the wet conditions of the product contained in the inventive package.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known to provide several types of packages for pourable or flowable products such as powder or grains, pellets, some food products such as powder milk, coffee, cereals, spices, etc., among other products. Most of these packages are quadrangular sealed boxes having a corner thereof with weaken lines or indications for making a cut by means of a scissors or any other cutting element to make an opening for pouring the product contained in the box. Some of the box walls around this opening may be also collapsed in order to form the same into a channel for facilitating the pouring of the product. When pre-cut lines or weakened lines are provided no cutting elements may be necessary and the opening may be provided by pushing a portion of the box inwardly and breaking the corresponding wall to define the necessary opening.
While the above described packages have been widely used one of the drawbacks thereof is that, once the opening or spout is formed by cutting the box material, the package can not be properly re-closed or re-sealed what renders the package unuseful. With the package not properly closed and sealed the product may spill out the box as well as the product may be exposed to particles and dirty entering through the open spout, even humidity, all of which can negatively affect the product contained in the box. This is particularly undesirable when the product contained in the box is a food product.
Another similar packages include, close to a corner designed for pouring or supplying the product, a metal fitting fixed by any means to a front wall of the box, the fitting essentially consisting of a retractile cap-spout that is connected through a hinge, at a bottom part of the fitting, to the box, with the fitting being initially closed and sealed against the front wall by means of an adhesive tape for preventing the pilfering or tampering of the box, which tape must be removed at the time of using the product. However, this kind of packages and closure arrangements do not overcome entirely the drawbacks of the previously described packages. Since the adhesive tape can not support further adhesive retention once removed, the pivoting fitting do not have any additional means for retaining the same in the closing position against the box. In addition to the foregoing, the materials and the equipment involved in the manufacturing of this package, as well as the necessary manufacturing steps for forming the cap-spout and for mounting the same in the box, result in a final product that is expensive, with a non competitive price.
The present inventor has also designed a package with retractile integral spout capable of moving from a close position to an open position, however the spout structure included several tearing portions that would have been excessively exposed to the tampering action of consumers in a store, with those portions not complying with the tampering safety requirements. This would have caused the product to be removed from the store shelf and discarded. In addition, the spout structure, basically comprising a snapping spout, did not guarantee a reliable sealing or closing of the package after the opening of the spout.
It would be therefore convenient to have a new package capable of containing pourable products, the package being an easy-to-manufacture, cost effective box with a pouring spout integral with the package and capable of being opened and re-sealed in order to keep the unused product in good storing conditions.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a package for pourable products, with tamperevident retractile pouring spout, the package comprising a box with a corner thereof having a pouring opening defined between an upper wall, a front wall and side walls, the corner including an upper inclined portion downwardly extending from the upper wall towards the front wall, and a snapping movable portion upwardly extending from the front wall and overlapping the upper inclined portion, the snapping portion snap-moving between a close position wherein the snapping portion is resting against the upper inclined portion and closing the opening, and an open position wherein the snapping portion is spaced apart from the upper inclined portion in a manner that, together with the pouring opening, forms a pouring spout.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a package, with integral tamper-evident retractile pouring spout and pouring control, for containing and dispensing pourable products, the package comprising a box made from an integral cardboard piece, the box having at least one corner formed by side walls, an upper wall and a front wall, the corner including an upper inclined portion downwardly extending from a transverse folding line in the upper wall towards the front wall, a snapping movable portion in the front wall, the snapping portion upwardly extending from a folding line in the front wall towards the upper inclined portion, and a pouring opening defined between the upper inclined portion and the snapping movable portion, wherein the snapping portion is movable between a close position wherein the snapping portion is resting against the upper inclined portion and closing the opening, and an open position wherein the snapping portion is spaced apart from the upper inclined portion in a manner that the pouring opening forms, together with the snapping portion, a pouring spout, the snapping portion being connected to the side walls by resilient driving means for providing the snapping portion with a snapping effect in the movement between the close position and the open position.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a package that may be manufactured from a single blank laminar piece by means of simple, rapid and cost effective process, with the package including a retractile spout integral to the package and capable of being easily handled by the consumer for providing an efficient pouring or dispensing function.
It is even another object of the present invention to provide a package with a deploying retractile pouring spout all conformed by only one piece of laminar material, such as cardboard, the package and spout being designed for containing and dispensing powder or pellets.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a package having a tamper-evident and pilfer-proof pouring spout that does not need of any cutting element to be opened and, once opened, can be re-closed re-sealed to prevent the product contained in the package from spilling out or pouring out the package.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be better understood when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and description.